Success is the outcome of living happily. A truly successful person is not defined by their abundance of wealth, but by their wealth of joy. Too many people in our existing society are presently caught up with the idea that money buys happiness; but these beings don’t understand that the love of an object is temporary. In other words, money may make one’s life easier, but not bring an individual joy. My Grandpa is not the wealthiest individual alive, but he is definitely one of the most successful due to the fact that he could not be more cheerful.

Edward Yuiska, my grandfather, grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As a boy, he loved sports and interacting with other people. Ed was able to use his deep passion for athletics to develop into an extraordinary swimmer, which he utilized by successfully swimming for his town throughout high school. His talent and enthusiasm for his sport let him continue swimming in college, where Edward attended Slippery Rock University.

In college, Ed studied to become a teacher, and used his gift of assisting others to be of aid to the real world. Unfortunately, he had to leave competitive swimming to endure the next chapter in his life.

Ed moved back to Pittsburgh to start his career as a middle school teacher. Edward thought that teaching would bring him joy because he had the fondness for working with others, but as the first year passed, he could not get excited about his new profession. He was determined to succeed in life, so my grandpa decided to go back to school and receive an education in physical therapy, which required the use of both of his passions: sports and helping others.

At this point, Edward was turning his lifelong interests into a personally rewarding career, the perfect recipe for success. He opened a private practice in Detroit right after finishing physical therapy school. His hard work paid off and a few years later, he earned the position as a Detroit Lions trainer.

Many years later, Ed resigned from his position as the Lion’s trainer and sold his practice that he still had worked at in conjunction to being a trainer. Six years ago, he and his wife Kathi, who he had met while in physical therapy school, moved to a retirement community in Florida. My grandfather is still practicing physical therapy after 47 years, at his current age of 73. This is all because so much of his happiness and joy comes from his career. I cannot think of a person’s footsteps I would rather follow on the path to success than my Grandfather Ed’s.